Need to Know
by Narilva
Summary: Commander James Horton and his mech detachment are sent on a mission on the surface of Diemos. Half of the team is killed and secrets are discovered. || Hey, it's Mechwarrior 2, gimmie a break. I thought it was cool. I just needed to kill this story befor


"Need to Know"

Rated R

By Narilva

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   I ran down my mental, pre-battle checklist. O2, 72% capacity; Hull Integerty, shit! 60%; Laser integrity, 45%; Armor (Head), 95%; HUD, 89%; SAM missles, 53 left. Goddamn. I hate those little armored guards. They are pains in the ass to destroy. I checked my team. Three other 3D holograms of mechs were still standing on my holoscreen. I radioed the first.

"Jackson, status." I demanded from the tall, chickenlike mech about 200 yards away from me.

"O2, 60%; Hull, 83%; Laser, a big fat fucking 2%; HeadArmor, 56%; HUD, is 32%; SAMs are 45." Jackson radioed back across the lifeless surface of Demos.

"Colson. Status." I radioed to the short mech, type Nova, 50 yards to my left.

"O2, 80%; Hull, 43%; Laser, 92%; HeadArmor, 76%; HUD, is 64%; SAMs are 67." 

I radioed behind my mech to the heaviest of our vehicles, a type Stormcrow. "Valin, status?"

   No answer.

"Valin! Status! Do you copy?" I said.

   Still no answer.

"Valin! Goddamnit! Answer! What the hell is your status?" I yelled as I punched the key for rear camera. I stopped yelling. There in the center of Private Valin's cockpit was a 

gaping hole in the spaceplexi. I clicked off the rear camera and looked back forward. I examined the hologram of Valin's mech and clicked off his picture. One man dead.

"Sir, what's going on?" Colson's female voice echoed in my headset.

I took a deep breath before answering. "Valin's dead. His spaceplexi is gone."

   I knew that Jackson crossed himself.

"Anything on long-range radar?" I asked Colson.

"Something. Looooks like three airborne bogies heading our way." She answered.

"Two landbound sons-of-bitchs on same course." Jackson added.

"Determine their weapons Jackson. All ready SAMs. Ready SAM guidance." I commanded.

   Several moments passed. Finally, Jackson radioed back.

"Type Kitfox on starboard to Type Firemoth. Kit's got a small superweapon. Fire's got a UAC-20 and a couple of lasers." Jackson reported after examining the enemy mechs on long range sniper scope.

"SAMs ready." Colson said.

"SAMs ready." Jackson repeated.

"SAM guidance ready." Colson added to her original report.

   More moments passed as I waited for Jackson to repeat what Colson had already said. Still nothing.

"Jackson? You readying that guidance system?" I asked.

"Can't sir." He said. I reeled back at his comment. SAM guidance never failed us. It was deep in the mech's gyro pack and armored by a square ton of heavy steel.

"Why not?" I asked.

"My HUD, it's operating at 32% sir."

"Hell, I've seen HUDs down to 5% and the SAMs still work."

"Not at full capacity. Once the HUD gets under 40% the guidance system is severly disabled. The SAMs won't-"

"Shut the fuck up Private and turn on your goddamn guidance system!" I interrupted.

"Sir, you know and I know-"

"-That this is no goddamn time for half-assed heroics! Now turn on your SAM guidance!" I yelled.

"Sir, you know and I know that when HUD is below 40% the guidance shoots as well as a naked blind man in a blizzard that's trying to hit a bottlecap."

"You, my friend are no match for a guidance system. You cannot possibly control manually what a computer can automatically. So shut your big goddamn mouth and cut out with the big-balled ideas!" I screamed into the radio. Colson interrupted us.

"Airborne's are at 400 kilometers. Landbound's are at 4 kilometers." She said in her slightly British tone.

"Sorry, commander. Still can't." He answered.

"Listen, Private Shithead Jackson. I will get your ass court-marshalled as soon as this mission is over, if you don't kill us all first. Ya' hear me? You and your dumbass ideas are gonna' get us all slaughtered!"

   Jackson swallowed hard. I could hear Colson shifting in her cockpit harness.

"Airborne's at 350 kilometers. Landbound's at 3." Colson reported.

"Sorry sir. . ." Jackson said as he switched off his microphone.

"Jackson? Jackson?! Oh, goddamn it!" I yelled into the mic, punching my fist on the cockpit roof of my mech.

"Airborne's at 290 kilometers. Landbound's at 1 decimal 7." Colson reported.

"290 and 1.7, and we have a fucking mutiny in progress." I grumbled.

"Permission to use the guass rifle sir?" Colson asked.

"Wait until the targets are at exactly one kilometer, then shoot for one of the Kitfox's legs." I said.

"Yes sir." Colson answered.

   Jackson's radio stayed silent. I am going to kill that guy when we're back on the dropship! I readied my own SAMs.

"Targets are on zero-bearing-zero." Colson reported.

"Heading straight for our nose." I commented.

"1 decimal 4 on Kitfox. . .1 decimal 2. . . 1 even. Opening fire." Colson said. I zoomed my binocular screen on the targets. They had no clue that an incoming gauss rifle round was flying right up their nose. Colson fired the large, heavy gun and a monsterous shell flew through the air.

"Rifle discharged. Reloading. . . Done."

   Another large blast rocketed from my starboard side. Jackson! He was shooting his laser at the enemy! In the process, he also revealed our position with the light flash. I stafed over to a group of nearby dust hills. Colson stafed also. We both hid behind the hills as our incoming missle siren blared inside our cockpits. I braced for inpact. A volley of maybe a AC-20 rounds blasted trough the hill of dust before us and rumbled and rang through my mech. I rotated my mech's torso and sidstepped out from behind the hill, locking my firing computer and firing my twelve laser guns. My cockpit glass instantly darkened and a volley of colored light beams shot to the target. After the beams left, my glass cleared and I saw shapnal fly off the Firemoth and float in the low gravity.

   Immediatly, an enourmous rocket flew away from the Kitfox's superweapon. I checked the bearing. Zero-One-Zero. Shit!

"Colson! Incoming superweapon! Bearing Zero-One Zero! Evasive manuvers! Let's get the hell out of  its way!" I screamed.

"Whoa, shit! Going evasive!" Colson's normally sluggish Nova rocketed into the air and landed to my rear. God, she was good with those jumpjets. I hit my own jumpjets and moved half a kilometer over to my right. The missle streaked past, the low rumble of its rocket engine sending shudders through my mech. I checked my heat sensors. Lasers are still roasting hot. I have to wait a while if I don't want to go into thermal shutdown. I checked my local radar. Aircraft was still coming in at breakneck speed, the distance between us shrinking with the passing seconds. Now was the time to shoot the SAMs off.

"Colson, fire SAMs when ready." I commanded.

"Yes sir. SAMs on standby. Waiting for a window."

   I looked across the moonscape at Jackson's mech. Goddamn, he was going to bring all hell down on us. Colson's voice crackled in my headset.

"Airborne: 2000 meters. . .1500. . .1000 meters. . .900. . .500. . .300 meters-"

"Fire all loaded SAMs now!" I yelled as the light spacecraft zoomed close on us. Colson fired six missles, two making contact with the trailing ship. It exploded and careened to the scarred landscape of the surface of Demos. I fired my six loaded missles, one clipping the engines of one of the craft, another hitting square on the cockpit. My victim blew up abouve my head, throwing flames of light across the darkened moonscape. The leading spacecraft shot a hail of gunfire at us all, my armor on the right arm of my battle mech exploded and tore off in large chunks. I braced my hands against the top of my cockpit as my mech flinched with the inpact. I screamed as my left shin was gashed by one of the corners of my HUD. Blood dripped from the wound and floated in my cockpit with the momentum of the explosion. I clamped my jaw shut and wrapped my gushing leg with an emergency bandage I kept in my left breast pocket. I quickly looked at my stats. Hull was down to 51%, so he must have hit my mech's torso too. I ground my teeth as pain bit hard on my left leg. I checked on Colson as I groaned with flaming pain.

"Colson, " I gasped with a sudden flare up of pain. "Status."

Colson's voice was rushed and breathless. "I'm fine. You O.K. commander?"

"Gashed my shin. That's mostly it. How'd Jackson do?"

"He's alive." Colson said.

"Fuck."

"My impression exactly. He fired all his missles into space."

"Goddamn it." I answered. I told him to turn on his guidance!

"Where's the leader going?"

"He's going back home. Landbounds are still coming." Colson said as she readied her ground to ground weapons. I looked out at Jackson, my tears making everything blurry and distorted. His right leg on his mech was totally disabled. I radioed Colson.

"Colson, what's the distance on those scouts?"

"One decimal five kilometers."

"We have little time. Ready all ground weapons."

"Mine are ready."

"Strafe away from me and snipe with that guass rifle. Whatever you do, KEEP MOVING! I don't want another casualty on my team."

"Engaging the enemy now." Colson reported as she fired another guass round off into the distance. My incoming fire siren blared. I hit my jumpjets and flew straight backwards, the enemy's volley missing me by a few meters. I grabbed my flask from my jacket and smashed the siren. Goddamnit I hate that thing.

"Commander! You alright?" Colson shouted.

"I'm fine. I'm engaging the enemy now." I hit weapon group one and squeezed the trigger on my right piloting joystick. My mech recoiled at the power of nine missles and six lasers shooting off into the distance. I twisted my mech's torso and marched horizontal to the enemy, waiting for my lasers to recharge. A green light blinked on my spaceplexi and I fired off another bunch of joy to my enemies. I examined my targeting computer as Colson's voice made my pain throbbing head swirl and my internal cockpit computer spoke.

"Kitfox is off the scope! Kitfox is dead, sir!" Colson yelled with ectasy.

"Enemy mech destroyed." My computer reminded.

"Enemy mechs powering up! Commander! On your starboard!" Colson screamed into the radio. I twisted my mech's torso using my jumpjets to make an instant turn. I recentered as I came nearly nose to nose with an enemy Nova.

"Oh, SHIT!" I yelled as I hit the "lateral jumpjets" as we called them. I rocketed into the air and aimed straight down. I launched an alpha strike of all my energy weapons. My heat HUD immediately flared a warning. I landed behind the Nova with a muffled thud as my mech's legs of steel imbedded themselves into the dusty surface of Deimos. I switched to weapon group two, my three machine guns. I leveled the torso of my mech and rocketed around, facing the rear of the enemy mech.

"BASTARD!" I yelled as I opened fire, one eye on the heat levels. On the airless moon of Deimos, the heat dissipated quickly in the shade of Mars. I waited axiously as the Nova began to turn around, using it's jumpjets as I had. The Nova was almost in position now, my port side of my mech being riddled with small ER lasers. I saw my heat pass out of yellow zone and I opened fire again, releasing another alpha strike into the Nova. The Nova's cockpit split in two and the charred, bloody remains of the pilot thudding into the plexi of my cockpit. I heard my computer set off an alarm.

"Shutting down."

"Fuck it all!" I yelled in frustration. I waited axiously as the heat slowly came out of red zone. I knew Colson was trying desprately to reach me via radio, but all my electronics were dead due to the heat overload. I saw Colson fighting the other enemy, using all the skills she had been taught at mech school and what combat training she had with me. I hoped I would power up soon. . .

"Power online." The computer reminded. I threw the mech into full throttle and leveled my SRMs. I launched a full volley of ten rockets at close range at the enemy Summoner. The enemy pilot disn't have a chance, with Colson jumping all around him and my close range rockets into his cockpit area. The explosion made my mech shudder. I hoped the pilot brought some extra cold drinks, cause hell was waiting for him.

"Colson! Take out the Firemoth! I'm taking point!" I ordered. Maybe there were some more camoflaged bastards around here.

"Yes, sir! Targeting."

   I looked up at a blinking red light above my head. Incoming fire! I knew I had no time to react; my mech quailed at the volley of enemy lasers and my head jolted around in the cockpit. I punched in some coordinates into my SAM guidance and fired. SAM missles leveled across the gray dust plains, streaking toward their target. I readied another volley of lasers as Colson tried to figure out what happened.

"Sir, you just fired a bunch of SAMs at an earthbound enemy!" Colson said in disbelief.

"I know." I launched my second volley of lasers. "The SAMs will confuse and distract him, my second shot will destroy him while he's busy avoiding my first."

"Good work commander." Jackson's voice inturrupted.

"Firemoth's dead." Colson quickly reported. I clenched my fists.

"Jackson, I gave you a direct-" I shouted.

"-Order. I know, but now I have a new problem." Jackson inturrupted. Why was his voice so calm?

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"My spaceplexi. It's cracking. Slowly."

"That's impossible! Spaceplexi either breaks or shatters. It never cracks slowly." Colson said breathless.

"It's happening." Jackson's voice was solemn and slow.

"Just close your armor over your cockpit." I suggested.

"Can't. The cockpit's fused."

"Well then climb in your spacesuit, we'll come get you." Colson interrupted.

"My suit has got a hole in it's chest. It's half melted." Jackson sighed. I listened closely, I could hear something crack.

"Do you have enough time to wait for the dropship? Maybe eject?" I asked, running out of options.

"No time, and remember the cockpit's fused?" Jackson said with a slight irritation.

"Jackson, you remember what they told you in Basic? About depressurasation and 

repressurasation?" I asked as an idea occured to me.

"Yeah, you can survive for a while in space, providing that you're repressurized after. What about it?"

"You can survive for one minute before your blood starts boiling. Jackson, I'm getting into my suit and I'm coming over to get you. When I give the word, you get in the airlock and open the door outside. I'll get you and bring you back inside my mech. The dropship will arrive shortly after and we can get you proper treatment." I said as I climbed out of my seat and propelled myself to the back of my mech in the extremely low gravity. I opened the door that led to my spacesuit. I struggled into the suit and squeezed into the airlock. I punched the depressurize button and the door outside my mech opened.

"Hold on Jackson." I eased my mech up beside Jackson's by remote control. "I'm outside."

"Oh, shit." Jackson whispered.

   I heard the spaceplexi explode and Jackson's cockpit instantly depressurize. I scrambled across Jackson's battered mech around to the cockpit. I bit my lip. A micrometorite had bashed his glass and hit Jackson in the chest. Blood globules bubbled from his chest and floated into space. I turned around and headed back to my mech's airlock. Colson gasped as she saw what happened to Jackson. Tears of shock began to form in my eyes as I took off my suit inside the repressurized airlock. I tossed it into a corner of my cockpit and strapped myself back in. I drummed my fingers on the black console. My radio headset crackled.

"This is dropship Redport, radioing strike force Hell X One. Do you copy Hell X One?"

"Redport this is Hell X One, password: Never-Dredge-Fire, coordinates: The Sewer-Quadrant 4." I answered quietly using the code phrases. "Get us the hell out of here."

"Hell X One, Redport copys and we are coming to get you at The Sewer-Quadrant 4. Please confirm."

"Confirmed. Just two to pick up. Two are KIA." I mumbled.

"Redport has confirmed. We're on our way. Sorry."

   I stared at the empty shell of Jackson's Stormcrow as another glob of blood floated into space before boiling away. Colson was as silent as I was as we stared.

"Hell X One, Redport here, ETA thirty seconds." A rough voice reminded.

I swallowed hard. "Redport, Hell X One copys. Thirty seconds."

   It was the longest thirty seconds of my life as I watched Jackson's lifeless blood float into space. I looked at my leg, my entire lower pant leg soaked in my own blood.

"Twenty seconds." The dropship radioed.

   I examined Jackson's mech. Some of it was salvagable. Maybe some weapons and armor. I erased his hologram from my Starmate stategic planning map. The 3D image of the Stormcrow flickered and disappeared. I looked up as the dropship landed on the dusty surface of Demos, creating a crater as it's landing jets made their mark. I walked my mech to the opening door of the retreival ship as Colson followed me. Once Colson was inside, the door shut and the engines roared off, taking us back home. 

Jackson, Valin, goodbye. Sorry you couldn't share in the small victory you both deserved. I pulled out my steel liquor flask and drank the last few drops I had left. I clicked off my short distance battle radio, but left my long distance radio on. A voice from HQ rattled my interior speakers.

"Team Hell X One, report." It said.

"Mission accomplished. Sewer Quadrant 4 secure." I said.

"Casualties, ours. Casualties, enemy."

"Two, eight."

"Who's dead?"

"Private Charlie Jackson and Private Harry Valin. Valin was killed in battle, Jackson died after his spaceplexi cracked and shattered in a million pieces."

"Shattered?" The general asked in disbelief.

"Shattered." I echoed.

"Spaceplexi can't shatter. It only shatters under the new-"

"-The new what?" I asked.

"That's classified soldier."

"Classified my ass. One of my guys died down here of something that was supposed to be impossible and you're worried about classified shit. Now what the hell happened?"

   The general let out a deep sigh. "Set your radio to secured band six." I thumbed the button.

"Done, sir." I answered, the normal radio noise suddenly cut silent by the top secret radio band.

"We were worried about this; the enemy has a new weapon that they equipped their spacecraft with. It is a energy weapon that seperates the atoms in spaceplexi and eats through armor." I blinked in disbelief. _Eats through it? How? The general continued. _

"That's why the private's spaceplexi seemed to be cracking. It fries and fuses the cockpit of any mech including a Direwolf. This prevents escape. It also causes a fire on any spacesuit via chemical reactions with the oxygen in your mech. The enemy's secondary weapon is a extremely large caliber machine gun. It's all above top secret."

"And we knew nothing about the piece of shit before going in."

"Watch it mechwarrior. Who else got hit?"

"I ate the machine gun, Jackson got the new weapon."

"How's Colson?"

"She's fine."

"How did _you_ fare?"

"My mech's fine except the right arm. My left shin got gashed on my console."

"There's another thing. The new weapon wasn't wielded by the real enemy." The general said quietly.

"Real enemy? Why? Did the 'real enemy' give their weapon to militia?" I asked. The general paused.

"No more talk until we reach home. When we arrive, I want you and Colson to report to the medic for checkups. I want you to get that leg fixed then report back to me. No one is to know of what we just said. As of now, this conversation didn't take place. Everything I said is above top secret. Do you understand me soldier?" The general forcefully said.

"Yes, sir." I answered before the general's radio cut out.

"Damn." I muttered as I cut the secured radio band. Colson's voice followed soon after.

"What the hell did he want?"

"General report." I answered back.

"No fucking way. Not on a secured band." She answered. I knew she wouldn't believe me.

"Sorry Colson. It's above top secret."

"Dammit." Colson breathed.

"My thought exactly."

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"Mechwarrior Natalie Colson and Mech Commander James Horton report to Mech bay seven, central control." The intercom in the Special Ops HQ demanded. Colson pulled her sidearm from her pistol belt and unloaded the weapon. I did the same as we stepped into an elevator.

"Really commander, what did that general want?" Colson pried, half-aware that the answer was no. I sighed and looked away. Colson replaced her pistol.

"Natalie. . ." I said. Colson looked up suprised; no formal Mechwarrior Commander addressed their soldiers with first names.

"Natalie, I already said: I _can't_ tell you. Now please leave it at that, I lost half-" I said 

stopping short. If I revealed how. . .emotional. . .a Mechcommander could get, my troops would loose faith in me. Natalie nodded, knowing what I could and could not say. The doors opened.

   Outside the elevator in all directions was row after row of towering mechs, over which crawled swarms of mechanics attaching and detaching weapons, repairing armor, or getting a good rebuke from a pissed off pilot. I stepped out and walked across the grated floor. A mechanic carrying a box of parts stopped in his tracks and stood to attention.

"Commander on deck!" He yelled. Anyone within earshot immediatly stood to attention and saluted. The mechanic failed to salute due to his box of parts. I returned a salute and excused the grease monkey for his minor error with a wave of my hand. Soon the sound of mech industry filled the massive mech bay. I turned to Colson.

"Colson, follow me." I said as I walked off to find the ever moving door for our Nova Colonel.

   After a few minutes of searching, I came across the door to my commander, Nikkolas Veer. I took a breath and ducked inside.

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   I examined the Nova Colonel's office. Many database terminals lined the walls, each seperated by a small potted plant which Colonal Veer faithfully watered every day. The colonal was filling out a report, apparently our battle report for the day. Veer broke the silence.

"You lost two MechWarriors I hear?" Veer said without looking up.

"Yes, sir." I answered.

"Were they good?"

"They were good fighters and good men, sir." I answered. We were not machines. I wanted to make that clear. Veer stopped writing and looked up at Colson.

"You may leave now MechWarrior Colson."

"But sir. . ." Colson tried to protest. Veer looked at her with a piercing stare.

"Leave NOW Colson!" He yelled. Natalie looked at me before she left.

_Best of luck. She said with her face. At least that's what I __knew she was saying. The door slammed on Veer's office. Veer dropped the report._

"I have to lock you away in the brig for two weeks." Veer said. "I'm sorry James, but what you know is above classified and cannot be made known. I've been ordered to lock you away. Sorry."

"What about Colson?" I asked. She didn't know anything about this. I hoped to hell she wasn't going to the brig with me.

"She's still in the fight." Veer replied. I sighed.

"After two weeks you'll come out. Sorry James, there's nothing I can do for you. The brass doesn't want this info to leak, so it won't leak. Colson will be under the command of Selis Lertas. I think you know him. Good man Lertas. He'll take good care of her in the field."

"Yes, sir." I said weakly. _Two weeks! Damn!_

"That's all MechWarrior. You can go back to your quarters and get your gear. Grab a good book, you'll need it." Veer said. I nodded as I turned for the door. "You'll have a infantryman follow you back to your room. Just to make sure you don't talk to anyone."

"Yes, sir." I replied. My voice was fading and I knew it. Veer tried to say something else, but it died in his mouth. I turned and walked out.

   After I left Veer's office, I came face to face with the infantryman. Colson had already left, no doubt to be reassigned to Lertas' battle wing. He had a small pistol strapped to his hip. I walked quickly to my quarters, going on full autopilot. I stopped for nothing and no one. After gathering up some books and other miscellaneous items, I locked the door. The infantryman said nothing as I was escorted to the brig. When the door shut and the light inside the brig's small space came on, I turned to the window, the bars in the frame blocking my view of the planet below. 

   Dammed war.

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End file.
